CHAPTER XXVIII
OFF THE COAST OF NORTH CAROLINA
Having assured himself that the ship was fully up with Cape Henlopen,Christy retired to his cabin, and still "alone in his glory," he brokethe seal of the official envelope. He was to cruise outside of theblockaders, and report to the flag-officer when opportunity presented.Just then it was believed that Richmond, which received all its foreignsupplies from Wilmington, could not long hold out if it was captured;and the Secretary of the Navy was giving special attention to the fortswhich protected it.
It was evident to the young commander that he was not to rust ininactivity, as had been the case of late off Mobile Bay, and a widefield of operations was open to him. His instructions were minute, butthey did not confine his ship to the immediate vicinity of the mouth ofthe Cape Fear River. It was evident that the speed of the St. Regis hadbeen an important factor in framing the secret orders.
If a blockade-runner eluded or outsailed the vessels of the fleet nearthe coast, the St. Regis was expected to "pick her up." On the otherhand, the fastest of the vessels were sent out farther from the shore,and the ship was expected to support them. Christy realized that heshould be called upon to exercise his judgment in many difficultsituations, and he could only hope that he should be equal to suchoccasions.
"Good-morning, Captain Passford," said Paul Vapoor, saluting him on thequarter-deck. "I hope you slept well in your brief watch below."
"I did not sleep a wink, I was so anxious to read my orders. But I knowthem now, and I feel as cool as an arctic iceberg. I shall sleep when Iturn in again."
"Well, where are we going, Captain, if it is no longer a secret?" askedthe engineer.
"It is not a secret now; and we are to cruise off the mouth of theCape Fear River," replied the commander, as he proceeded to give theinformation more in detail.
"We are not likely to have any hot work then if we are only to chaseblockade-runners," added Paul.
"Probably we can render greater service to our country in this mannerthan in any other way, or we should not have been sent to this quarter,"said Christy, with a long gape.
Paul saw that his friend was sleepy, and he bade him good-night. Thecommander went to his stateroom, and was soon fast asleep, from which hedid not wake till eight o' clock in the morning. When he went on deckthe ship was carrying all sail. The second lieutenant had the deck, andhe asked him what speed the steamer was making.
"The last log showed seventeen knots an hour," replied Mr. Makepeace.
"I hope you slept well, Captain Passford," said the chief engineer,saluting him at this minute.
"I slept like a log till eight bells this morning," replied Christy.
"Mr. Makepeace reports the last log at seventeen knots," continued Paul."But the ship is not making revolutions enough per hour for more thanfifteen, for I have got the hang of her running now. The wind is blowinghalf a gale, and the canvas is giving her two knots."
No events transpired on board worthy a special chronicle during theday. The men were drilled in various exercises, and gave excellentsatisfaction to their officers. The next morning the St. Regis was offCape Hatteras, and though it is a greater bugbear than it generallydeserves, it gave the ship a taste of its quality. The wind had hauledaround to the south-west, and was blowing a lively gale. The sails hadbeen furled in the morning watch, and off the cape the course had beenchanged to south-west.
Just before eight bells in the afternoon watch, when the ship was makingfifteen knots an hour, the lookout man on the top-gallant forecastlecalled out "Sail, ho!" and all eyes were directed ahead.
"Where away?" demanded the officer of the deck sharply.
"Close on the lee bow, sir!" returned the lookout.
The commander was in his cabin studying the chart of the coast of NorthCarolina; but the report was promptly sent to him, and he hastened ondeck.
"Another sail on the port bow, sir!" shouted a seaman who had been sentto the fore cross trees with a spy-glass.
"What are they?" asked Christy, maintaining his dignity in spite of theexcitement which had begun to invade his being.
"Both steamers, sir," replied the officer of the deck.
"The head one is a blockade-runner, I know by the cut of her jib, sir,"shouted the man with the glass on the cross trees.
All the glasses on board were immediately directed to the two vessels.Christy could plainly make out the steamer that had the lead. She was apiratical-looking craft, setting very low in the water, with two smokestacks, both raking at the same angle as her two masts. The wind wasnot fair, and she could not carry sail; but the "bone in her teeth"indicated that she was going through the water at great speed.
"A gun from the chaser, sir!" shouted the man aloft.
The cloud of smoke was seen, and the report of the gun reached the earsof all on board the St. Regis.
"There is no mistaking what all that means, Mr. Baskirk," said Christywhen he had taken in the situation.
At the first announcement of the sail ahead, the commander had orderedthe chief engineer to get all the speed he could out of the ship. Thesmoke was pouring out of the smoke stacks, for the St. Regis had two,and presently she indicated what was going on in the fire room bybeginning to shake a little.
"Another sail dead ahead, sir!" called the man on the fore cross trees.
The glasses were directed to the third sail, and she proved to be asteamer, also pursuing the one first seen. It was soon evident to theobservers that the blockade-runner, for the man aloft who had so definedher was entirely correct, was gaining all the time on her pursuers. Ifshe had nothing but her two pursuers to fear, her troubles were reallyover.
Both of the Federal ships were firing at the chase; but they might aswell have spared their powder and shot, for they could not reach herinto at least a quarter of a mile. The wind was still at the south-west,and already there were signs of fog. The rakish steamer had probablycome from the Bermudas, where she must have obtained a skilful pilot,for without one she would have had no chances at all; and she stoodboldly on her course as though she had nothing to fear on account ofthe navigation.
"What are we going to have for weather, Mr. Makepeace?" asked Christy,after a long look to windward.
"It looks a little nasty off towards the shore, sir," replied the secondlieutenant. "I should say it was going to be just what that pirate wouldlike to have."
"Why do you call her a pirate?" asked the commander with a smile."Probably she is not armed."
"I call her a pirate because she looks like one; but I think ablockade-runner is a hundred degrees better than a pirate; and ourBritish friends plainly look upon them as doing a legitimate business.I rather think that highflyer will run into a fog before she gets to theshore."
"She has nothing to fear from the two steamers that are chasing her,"added Christy. "We are to have a finger in this pie."
"No doubt of that; and I hope we shall make a hole through her beforeshe gets to the coast."
"She is not more than a mile and a half from us now, and our midship gunis good for more than that; but I don't think it is advisable to wasteour strength in firing at her just yet."
"That's just my way of thinking," said Mr. Makepeace, with somethinglike enthusiasm in his manner; and he was evidently delighted to findthat the commander knew what he was about, as he would have phrased it.
"The rakish steamer seems to be headed to the west south-west, and sheis exactly south-east of us. We can see that she is sailing very fast;but how fast has not yet been demonstrated. How high should you rate herspeed, Mr. Makepeace?"
"I should say, Captain Passford, that she was making eighteen knots anhour. She is kicking up a big fuss about it; and I'll bet a long-ninecigar that she is doing her level best."
"I don't believe she is doing any better than that," added Christy."Make the course south south-west, Mr. Baskirk."
"South south-west, sir," replied the executive officer.
The course of the ship was chan
ged, and Christy planked the deck fromthe quarter-deck to the forecastle in order to obtain the best view hecould of the relative positions of the St. Regis, the chase, and the twosteamers astern of her. The blockade-runner showed no colors; and noflag could have been of any service to her. She appeared still to bevery confident that she was in no danger, evidently relying wholly uponher great speed to carry her through to her destination.
The "highflyer," as the second lieutenant called her every time healluded to the blockade-runner, and the two pursuers, occupied the threeangles of a triangle. The latter were both sending needless cannon ballsin the direction of the chase, but not one of them came anywhere nearher.
On the other hand, the highflyer and the St. Regis formed two angles ofanother triangle, the third of which was the point where they would cometogether, if nothing occurred to derange their relative positions. Bythis time Paul Vapoor had developed all the power of the ship's boilers,and the screw was making more revolutions a minute than her highestrecord, which was found in a book the former chief engineer had leftin his stateroom.
"I don't think that highflyer quite understands the situation, Mr.Baskirk," said the commander, as he observed that she did not vary hercourse, and stood on to her destination, apparently with perfectconfidence.
"I don't think she does, sir," replied the first lieutenant. "She cansee the American flag at the peak, and she knows what we are. Doubtlessshe is making the mistake of believing that all the Federal ships areslow coaches."
"Heave the log, Mr. Baskirk," added Christy, and he walked forward.
It was a matter of angles when it was desirable to come down to a closecalculation, and the young commander found his trigonometry very useful,and fortunately not forgotten. With an apparatus for taking ranges hehad procured the bearing of the highflyer accurately as soon as the lastcourse was given out, perhaps half an hour before. He took the rangeagain, and found there was a slight difference, which was, however,enough to show that the form of the triangle had been disturbed.
Both ships were headed for the same point, and the sides of the trianglewere equal at the first observation. Now the St. Regis's side of thefigure was perceptibly shorter than its opposite. This proved to thecaptain that his ship had gained on the other. The two chasers had beenlosing on the chase for the last half-hour, and Christy regarded them asout of the game.
There was some appearance of fog in the south-west, and no land couldbe seen in any direction. For another hour the St. Regis drove aheadfuriously on her course, and the highflyer was doing the same. Thetwo steamers, regardless of the speed of either, were necessarilyapproaching each other as long as they followed the two sides of thetriangle. They had come within half a mile the one of the other, whenthe commander gave the order to beat to quarters. Ten minutes later theframe of the ship shook under the discharge of the big Parrot. The shotwent over the chase; but she promptly changed her course to thesouthward.